Moving Forward
by RainAwhile
Summary: My entry for the The TLG Fanfic Challenge on The Looking Glass Matrix Fanfiction forum. Showing the actions of Neo near the end in the point of view of the Architect/Deux Ex Machina


They seem completely unaware that I am always watching them inside my program. I watch as they run through the streets, crash up stairs, and wade through ponds. Perhaps deep inside they know, but I have been watching them ever since they were grown; I know more about them than they do about themselves.

I created the Matrix many years ago. The first was far too perfect to comprehend. I will never comprehend how a species could reject everything they strive for – happiness, wealth, love. Being the sickly creatures they are, they lacked one thing: control. This angered me profusely, ergo I created a second version of the Matrix, one full of terror and angst; however, this version was too much for their weak biology to bear the extreme nature of this world. Once again I was left to fashion yet another version, this one being more evil than good. This time, the humans were more accepting, but we were still losing entire crops.

Humans lack gratitude. Machines had created a world just like the one they destroyed – a world of light, and yet, they disapprove and reject it as though it was nothing. I was forced to find a balance of good and evil which resulted in an additional three attempts until they finally accepted the Matrix as reality. Regardless of these changes, each version had an anomaly – a man who was difficult to classify - a man who could bend the rules of the Matrix to free the human race. This man, The One, was the one savior. Of course we would never allow for something such as this to happen on its own. We created this man with one purpose: to extend our control into the Real World. We created Agent programs in order to balance the equation, to balance good and evil. Our extended control allows us to destroy their human city and then we begin the cycle once again.

It has become a game where humans believe they are free but our clutches control their lives in this world and the Real World. However, the rules seemed to change when the sixth anomaly entered my domain. I had watched him from the moment the Agents took him into custody. He had changed immensely since then; he was no longer naïve. Machines are incapable of feeling surprise, but even I was taken aback when he chose the door which led him to his lover rather than to the Source. His predecessors never made such a decision. His predecessors also did not comprehend as quickly either. As he walked towards the door which he deemed more important I warned him about the consequences of his actions, but he either did not hear me, or chose not to listen. Instead, he threatened me, a laughable statement, but I watched as he went through the door. I watched as he caught her. I watched as he revived her. Never had an anomaly acted in such a way. It was then that I knew that change was inevitable.

I will never understand how he following events occurred. This sixth anomaly saved both worlds. He had deleted our strongest rogue program. This anomaly, Neo, arrived, his eyes severely damaged, was unable t recognize my machine form. I knew of his arrival just as I had known that he had been in the city far longer than anyone knew, draped over the same woman he had saved not too long before. A waste, his attempt was, when he revived this woman only to have her die hours later.

I did not know what to expect when he claimed that he would not fail. But he proved that he was a man of his word – a trait which has almost been eradicated from his species – he saved the machines and established peace for the humans. His feat was one that perplexed me greatly. Even when he was faltering, he would continue to fight. He had the same look in his eyes as he had when we met, the look he had when he saved his lover. That is when I understood. This anomaly, this man, differed from his predecessors because of his love. Of course the other anomalies had compassion for a mate, but this man was blinded by it. Perhaps this is what had been missing each time the One unknowingly failed to break our control.

After his victory we moved him deep into the city. He was not to be found – he was now a symbol of peace and would act as a treaty between us and the humans. We plugged the man into yet another system where he could remain alive. The same was done with his woman. They will not be freed until they are needed again.

Days later, diplomats from Zion arrived to be informed of the peace arrangements. We agreed to bestow freedom to the enlightened humans in the Matrix. We also agreed to help them clear their dock. I wasn't a human, thus I stayed true to my word. However, one man came in the following days requesting to know what had happened to his fallen comrades. This man, Morpheus, pressed for information stronger than most humans did when searching for the truth within the system. I told them that they were dead and disposed of, but it was evident that he did not believe this. I had always known that this man was a man of faith. He was escorted away; he mustn't know.

We have kept Neo and Trinity alive, saving them in case another program attempts to overthrow the system. We always kept the anomaly that succeeded until the next one did the same. However, there is no need to dispose of this one. Neo, the anomaly was the only one to truly break our control – the only one to actually succeed. This is why we shall never dispose of him. His lover, we keep her for reasons unknown. I do not understand love, but it is evident that the only reason this man succeeded was because of her and that is reason enough to keep her with him. It is, after all, the question that drives us.


End file.
